"I was completely unaware of how many points I had until I heard someone screaming out '24 points' at halftime," Steward said. "I got my teammates the ball a lot in the second half. I had already told Jensen at halftime: 'If they come at me, it's your job to go to work.' "

Boylan finished the job and snapped Hononegah's 58-game conference winning streak last week. Steward finished with 31 points to become the sixth NIC-10 girl to score at least 30 this season.

That's more 30-point scorers than any conference coach can remember in one season and the 30-point club shares two other traits:

- None of the six is one of the three returning leading scorers from last year (Hononegah's Karley Kolberg, Blassage or Belvidere's Cynthia Santiago). They are all new stars.

- And they have gotten hot in their team's biggest games. Three of the girls (Steward, Melena Burke and Shamara Glover) hit 30 against Hononegah, a fourth (Keri Dodson) against second-place Auburn and a fifth (Brianna Davis) against last year's regional champion Harlem.

"Those kids have earned it," Boylan coach Paul Perrone said. "They are scoring them against good teams. These kids are great shooters and they know how to play the game."

Here is a look at the NIC-10's 30-point club:

McKaela Schmelzer

The 5-foot-7 Harlem sophomore was the first to 30 with 38 in a Dec. 3 blowout of Jefferson.

"She can shoot from outside if you give her the range and if you get too tight, she is very good on penetration," coach Luanna Kish said.

That is the formula for almost all of the 30-point club. None is very big, all standing between 5-6 and 5-8, but all can shoot, all are extremely athletic and all are also threats on defense and can score off steals.

"They are all so quick, especially the Schmelzer girl," Perrone said. "They put up shots very quick and most times it's nothing but net."

Melena Burke

Before Steward shot down Hononegah, Burke nearly did the same. The 5-8 senior had 26 of her 30 points through three quarters before Hononegah put a box-and-one on her in the fourth quarter and broke a tie with 28 seconds left. Burke has been Auburn's best outside shooter and also best inside player for the Knights (19-6, 13-2), who fell just short of tying Hononegah for their first-ever NIC-10 title.

"Melena has been stepping up and playing the post all year," coach Zay Hoover said. "Melena is all over the place. She gets most of our rebounds and takes more charges than any player I've had in my eight years as coach."

Page 2 of 3 - Shamara Glover

The 5-8 Guilford junior might be the least known of the group, but that won't last long. She scored 30 as the Vikings (10-16, 6-10) gave Hononegah an unexpected scare and also 27 against Harlem. She has topped 20 points in five games to lift her average to 15.6.

"Her dad worked with her forever and ever," coach Joe Sutherland said. "She's always been an outside shooter, but she can post up when she needs to now. She is starting to see a lot more box-and-1s. Teams are trying to make her chuck it from the cheap seats, but she is finding a way."

"I still get open against double teams because of my teammates," Glover said. "It's easy as long as I do the things I was taught to do and use the screens from my teammates. And if I distribute the ball, I know it's going to come back to me."

Keri Dodson

Like Steward and Burke, the 5-8 Belvidere North senior had a chance to almost single-handedly change the NIC-10 race when she scored a school-record 36 points on 14-for-21 shooting against Auburn. North (13-14, 9-6) had a chance to force overtime when it trailed by two with four seconds left, but Dodson missed the back end of a 1-and-1.

"She was just catching it and shooting it and not even thinking about it. She made shots all over the court that night, but she was so down after the game because we lost," said coach Aaron Leonard, who kept telling Dodson that she was the main reason the Blue Thunder was even in the game.

Leonard knew Dodson was ready for a breakout season when he saw how much she had worked to improve this summer, even thinking she could blossom into a NIC-10 MVP. "We had high expectations," Leonard said, "but I never would have thought 36 points, especially against Auburn."

Brianna Davis

Davis, a 5-foot-6 senior, was Auburn's biggest returning star, but Burke has carried more of the load this year because she has been the Knights' closest thing to an inside threat. But the Knights need Davis, who scored 30 against Harlem, to come through next week if they want to win their first regional title in 27 years. Davis can't post up like the other five in the 30-point club, but is a constant threat with steals and 3-pointers.

"We need them both to get a hot hand," Hoover said. "This has got to be the best shooting team I've ever had."

Kayla Steward

The 5-7 junior used to be Boylan's 3-point specialist.

"If you rely on just the 3-pointer, you are going to score, but what has really helped her game is getting a good balance of inside-outside," Boylan coach Perrone said.

Page 3 of 3 - Steward had five 3s and seven 2-pointers in that win over Hononegah, and she now has topped 20 points in three of her last six games.

"Coach has been encouraging me to not just rely on the 3 ball but to become an all-around player," Steward said. "It's nice that my shots are falling, because my teammates are getting me the ball and we've been working in the gym so hard."

Steward and Glover play on the same AAU team in the summer.

"She is one of my best friends," Glover said. "I was excited when I hit 30 and I was really excited when she hit 30 and helped them win."

What's next for the 30-point club?

Maybe 40 points.

"Hopefully, yeah," Glover said. "I would love to do that."

They might not get 40, but no one expects them to stop scoring big.

"Any time you put up 30," Hononegah coach Randy Weibel said, "you have talent. This is where our conference is going."